System and Method for Evaluating Performance of Concurrent Mobile Services of Mobile Devices

ABSTRACT

A system method and device for evaluating the Quality of Service (QoS) performance of mobile telephone devices in the concurrent performance of different services through a mobile telephone network is provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises establishing a first logical communication channel via the mobile telephone network, communicating first information over the first logical communication channel, establishing a second logical communication channel over a communication network, concurrently with said communicating first information, communicating second information over the second logical communication channel, and determining a plurality of service quality metrics for the first and second information communicated over the first and second logical communication channel.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods forevaluating communication devices, and more particularly to systems andmethods for evaluating the performance of mobile telephone devices inthe concurrent performance of different services through a mobiletelephone network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile telephone devices have become ubiquitous in our society. Unlikeconventional landline telephony services, which typically operate in ahome or office and are delivered via a wire or cable and enjoy a highlyconsistent transmission quality, mobile telephone devices are subjectedto use under varying radio environments which results in highly varyingtransmission quality and thus highly varying speech and data serviceperformance to the end user. One challenge to those designing mobiletelephone devices is to design the telephone devices to provide thedesired speech and data quality even when the user is using thetelephone device in challenging and changing radio environments.Further, wireless network operators also want users of their network touse telephone devices that provide adequate communication quality in allradio environments to ensure that the user has a satisfactory experienceusing the wireless network. Thus, there are numerous parties who desireto test the quality of communications provided by a mobile telephonedevice.

There are, however, a wide variety of telephone devices used forcommunicating over wireless mobile telephone networks. With theproliferation of mobile telephone devices, many designs of telephoneshave evolved. The different designs of telephone devices result indifferent performance characteristics for each telephone device. Variousdesign characteristics may impact the quality of the speech and dataservices provided by a telephone device and its ability to providecommunications in varying radio environments. For example, the radiofront-end of a telephone device, which drives, in part, the radiatedperformance (a devices ability to receive and transmit radio signals) ofthe device may positively or negatively impact the quality ofcommunications in various radio environments. Another factor may be thedevice's capability to cancel interfering radio signals from wantedradio signals in order to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and therebyimprove the quality of communications. Other design factors include (a)the performance of the device's digital signal processor, (b) the designof the device's operating system and associated applications includingthe handling of TCP/IP communication. As a result, the many differentmobile telephone devices have varying performance characteristics due totheir design. Thus, different telephone devices operating in the sameradio environment provide different qualities of communication.

As the mobile telephone networks have developed, various digitalcommunication services have been introduced, including datacommunications and digital voice communications. Along with theconventional voice services provided in the past, mobile telephonedevices are being used to access the internet, communicate textmessages, video files, audio files, email and other data. Moreover,users often use mobile devices to access multiple services currentlysuch as email, voice communications, web surfing, downloading file,watching video, SMS, etc. A challenge to mobile telephone devicemanufacturers, and to wireless carriers, is how to evaluate the relativeperformance of mobile telephone devices for the various voice and dataservices—especially when multiple services are used concurrently.

Another challenge is to objectively compare the communication quality ofdifferent mobile telephone devices in a consistent manner. Someembodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems toobjectively test the qualities of service of different mobile telephonedevices in varying environments when multiple communication services areprovided concurrently. These and other advantageous may be provided byone or more embodiments of the present invention.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is further described in the detailed description thatfollows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limitingillustrative embodiments of the invention, in which like referencenumerals represent similar parts throughout the drawings. As should beunderstood, however, the invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for testing a mobiletelephone device according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example test, according to an example embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of testing a mobile telephonedevice, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and notlimitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular networks,communication systems, computers, terminals, devices, components,techniques, telephone devices, mobile telephones, accessory devices,simulators, ear pieces, headsets, telephone handsets, data and networkprotocols, software products and systems, operating systems, developmentinterfaces, hardware, etc. in order to provide a thorough understandingof the present invention.

However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from thesespecific details. Detailed descriptions of well-known networks,communication systems, computers, telephone devices, mobile telephones,accessory devices, simulators, ear pieces, headsets, telephone handsets,terminals, devices, components, techniques, data and network protocols,software products and systems, development interfaces, operatingsystems, and hardware are omitted so as not to obscure the descriptionof the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the performance ofa mobile telephone device, such as a mobile telephone, is evaluated forproviding of various services concurrently. As used herein, “mobiletelephone” means a telephone configured to communicate voice and dataover a mobile telephone network. Other telephone devices include mobiletelephone accessories (e.g., a wired or wireless) such as an earpiece,headset, speaker phone (e.g., that includes a microphone and which maybe, for example, in an automobile, or other device), or other suchdevice. A mobile telephone, also sometimes commonly referred to as acell telephone, is a long-range, mobile electronic device used formobile communications. In addition to providing the standard voicefunction of a telephone, many mobile telephones may support additionalservices such as SMS for text messaging, email, FTP, UDP, packetswitching for access to the Internet, and MMS (Multimedia MessagingService) for sending and receiving photos and video. A conventionalmobile telephone may wirelessly communicate via a cellular network ofbase stations (cell sites), which is connected to the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN). A mobile telephone device, thus may include amobile telephone alone, or in combination with an accessory.

Referring to FIG. 1, in an example embodiment a test application 115 andone or more test scripts 110 reside in the (non-transitory) memory of amobile telephone device 102. Likewise, the servers described herein mayinclude non-transitory memory for storing program code that is executedby one or more processors. The test application 115 executes the testscript(s) 110 to invoke mobile service applications 105 to performmultiple mobile service tasks (e.g., email, SMS, voice telephone call,FTP, UDP, web surfing, downloading files, receive streaming video, etc.)concurrently. The mobile service applications 105, which compriseprogram code stored in non-transitory memory of the mobile telephonedevice 102, may be provided by the manufacturer of the mobile telephonedevice and/or install after manufacture or sale (e.g., by the consumersuch as a VoIP application such as Skype®). Examples of mobile serviceapplications include, but are not limited to, email clients, voicecommunications application, web browsers, VoIP applications, audioplayers, multimedia players, SMS clients, game applications, and others.

This example embodiment also includes a dispatch server 120 that storestest scripts 122 that may be distributed to mobile telephone devices 102to be executed by the test application 115 to thereby perform thetesting. This embodiment also may include a test server 125 that storestest data 135 and service applications 130. The service applications mayinclude any suitable application desirable or needed to communicate withthe mobile telephone device 102 and/or a mobile service applicationincluding, but not limited to, email clients, voice communicationsapplication, web browsers, VoIP applications, audio players, multimediaplayers, SMS clients, game applications, and others. The test data 135may include a variety of content such as multimedia (e.g., video), audio(e.g., voice recordings), web pages, email content, and other contentthat may be communicated to the mobile telephone device 102 as part of atest. Likewise, the mobile telephone device 102 may store such testdata. The system also may include a database server 150 that stores testresults.

While FIG. 1 depicts separate servers, in practice the functions of thevarious servers may be performed by a single physical computer that usesdifferent software (e.g., server software) to perform the associatedfunctionality or multiple computers performing each function that arenot co-located. In other words, the servers are depicted as separatecomponents in FIG. 1 for ease of explanation, but any suitable means ofproviding the functions described herein may be employed and fall withinthe scope of the present invention. As used herein, the term “computer”is meant to include a computer system that includes one or morephysically separate computing devices (e.g., servers, desk tops, laptops, rack mounted, etc.) that may or may not be co-located with eachother.

In one example embodiment, the test application 115 resident on themobile telephone device 102 is initiated such as by receiving an inputfrom a user or by wirelessly receiving a predetermined SMS message orother wireless message. The test application 115 causes one or more testscripts 110 to execute to perform multiple mobile service tasksconcurrently. In this example, a first mobile service task may compriseestablishing a voice telephone call, which as shown in FIG. 2 isinitiated at time T1. To do so, in this example embodiment the mobiletelephone device 102 may call the test server 125 to establish thetelephone call via the mobile telephone network 112. An example mobiletelephone network 112 may be based on any of various telecommunicationstandards, such as AMPS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, GSM, CPRS, EV-DO, UMTS,WiMAX, G1, G1.5, G2, G3, G4, etc. In some embodiments, pre-stored testdata (e.g., files) that comprise voice content or other such audiocontent sufficient for testing voice quality are communicated via thetelephone call bi-directionally between the mobile telephone device 102and the test server 125. By executing local program code (e.g., the testapplication 115) and/or remote program code, the incoming voice contentreceived by each of the mobile telephone device 102 and the test server125 may be regularly processed to determine the speech quality of thereceived voice content (such as a mean opinion score or MOS) and othermetrics on an ongoing basis to provide a series of metrics over time forthe duration of the telephone call. In some embodiments, the receivedaudio content may be stored for processing after completion of the testso that processing of the audio content by the mobile telephone device102 does not impact the performance of the mobile telephone device 102during the test.

A second mobile service task to be performed as part of the test maycomprise receiving, and in some instances presenting (displaying) videocontent, which as shown in FIG. 2, is initiated at time T2. In oneembodiment, referring to FIG. 3, the test application 115 resident onthe mobile telephone device 102 causes the mobile telephone device 102to transmit a service task request (e.g., a request to transmit videocontent to the mobile telephone device 102) to the dispatch server 120(via the Internet 114 or mobile telephone network 112) at 202. Theservice task request is received by the dispatch server 120 at 204. At205, the test server 125 may poll the dispatch server 120 to determineif any service tasks have been requested. Such polling may be on acontinuous basis. If a service task request has been received by thedispatch server 120, at 206 information of the requested service task(e.g., transmit a particular video content to a particular mobiletelephone device 102) is communicated to the test server 125 by thedispatch server 120. The test server 125 then performs the requestedtasks at 208. The video content to be communicated may be stored as partof the test data 135 on the test server 125. In another embodiment, themobile telephone device 102 transmits a request to the test server 125,which responds by transmitting the video content to the mobile telephonedevice 102. In yet another embodiment, the test server 125 receives anotification of a given test script by the mobile telephone device 102and, based on the receipt of the notification, initiates transmission ofthe video content to the mobile telephone device 102 without the need toreceive a request. The video content may be received via the mobiletelephone network 112, via the Internet 114 (such as via WiFi connectionof the mobile telephone device 102 to the Internet 114), via anothernetwork, or some combination thereof. It is worth noticing that thereceived video may be streaming video or downloaded video as desired bythe tester. The video content to be communicated may be stored as partof the test data 135 on the test server 125.

As is evident from FIG. 2, the video content is received by the mobiletelephone device 102 while the telephone call remains established andtherefore the two mobile service tasks are performed concurrently. Inother words, the voice telephone call may established over a firstlogical communication channel and the video content may received via asecond logical communication channel. While the first logical channelwas initiated prior to the second logical communication channel, bothlogical communication channels exist concurrently (i.e., after time T2).

By executing local program code (e.g., the test application 115) orremote program code, the incoming video content received by the mobiletelephone device 102 may be processed to determine the quality of thereceived video content to provide a series of quality of service scoresover time for the duration of the received video content. In thisexample embodiment, the test application 115 determines the quality ofthe received video content to provide a variety of service qualitymetrics, which are stored in memory of the mobile telephone device. Insome embodiments, the received video content may be stored forprocessing after completion of the test so that processing of the videocontent by the mobile telephone device 102 does not impact theperformance of the mobile telephone device 102 during the test.

A third mobile service task to be performed as part of the test maycomprise receiving from the test server 125 (and/or transmitting to thetest server 125) one or more emails, which as shown in FIG. 2, isinitiated at time T3. The email content may comprise embedded imagecontent (e.g., photos or videos), audio content, one or moreattachments, text, and/or any other content in any way known to becommunicated via email. The email content may be stored as part of thetest data 135 on the test server 125 and stored on the mobile telephonedevice 102. If this portion of the test includes transmission of emailsfrom the test server 125 to the mobile telephone device 102, the processof FIG. 3 may performed to initiate transmission of the emails to themobile telephone device 102 by the test server 125. This task maycomprise communication of a plurality of such emails by the mobiletelephone device 102 and/or the test server 125. The communication ofthe email(s) may be considered a third logical communication channelthat exists concurrently with the other two logical communicationchannels (i.e., after time T3). The email(s) and associated content maybe communicated via the mobile telephone network 112, via the Internet114 (such as via WiFi connection of the mobile telephone device 102 tothe Internet 114), via another network, or some combination thereof.

By executing local program code (e.g., the test application 115) orremote program code, the incoming emails and email content received bythe mobile telephone device 102 may be processed to determine thequality of the received emails and email content to provide a series ofquality of service scores over time for the duration of the receivedemails. In some embodiments, the received email content may be storedfor processing after completion of the test so that processing of theemail content by the mobile telephone device 102 does not impact theperformance of the mobile telephone device 102 during the test.Likewise, by executing program code on the test server 125, the outgoingemails and email content transmitted by the mobile telephone device 102may be processed by the test server 125 to determine the quality of thetransmitted emails and email content to provide a series of quality ofservice scores over time for the duration of the transmitted emails.

A fourth mobile service task to be performed as part of the test maycomprise accessing a plurality of web pages (such as those hosted by thetest server 125 or other web server), which as shown in FIG. 2, isinitiated at time T4. To initiate this task, the mobile telephone device102 may transmit a request for a first web page to the test server 125(or other server). Immediately after receipt (or rendering (display) ofthe requested web page), a second web page may be requested. Afterreceipt (or rendering) of the second web page, a third web page may berequested and so on. In some embodiments, the test server 125 transmitseach web page after a predetermined time frame (e.g., three seconds)without the need to receive a request from the mobile telephone device102. In other embodiments, each web page includes program code that whenexecuted by the mobile browser causes the mobile telephone device 102(i.e., the browser rendering the web page) to request the next web page.Thus, this task may comprise communication of a plurality of such webpages to the mobile telephone device 102 from the test server 125 orother server. The web pages may form part of the test data 135 stored onthe test server 125. The communication of the web pages may beconsidered a fourth logical communication channel that existsconcurrently with the other three logical communication channels (i.e.,after time T4). The web pages may be received via the mobile telephonenetwork 112, via the Internet 114 (such as via WiFi connection of themobile telephone device 102 to the Internet 114), via another network,or some combination thereof.

By executing local program code (e.g., the test application 115) orremote program code, the web pages received by the mobile telephonedevice 102 may be processed to determine the quality of the received webpages to provide a series of quality of service scores over time for theduration of the received emails. In some embodiments, the received webpages may be stored, along with information on the timing of receipt ofeach web page, for processing after completion of the test so thatprocessing of the web pages by the mobile telephone device 102 does notimpact the performance of the mobile telephone device 102 during thetest.

As is illustrated in FIG. 2, after a plurality of the mobile servicetasks are performed concurrently for a predetermined time period (i.e.,communication over a plurality of logical communication channels toprovide different mobile services concurrently), the test may terminatesuch as at time T5. In some embodiments, only after conclusion of thetest does the processing of the mobile service task data begin todetermine the quality metrics. In other embodiments, some or all of theprocessing may performed “live” while the test is ongoing.

For each mobile service task performed, the following information may bedetermined (e.g., by the mobile telephone device via execution of thetest application 115) and stored in memory of the mobile telephonedevice:

-   -   The wireless service such as whether the service is WiFi or the        type of broadband network (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.).    -   Service quality metrics such as speech quality, success/failure,        error rate, bit transfer rate (e.g., peak and/or average        throughput), connectivity (e.g., which may result in either        success or failure), latency, jitter, connectivity loss, etc.    -   Radio conditions such as signal strength, radio network bearer        identifier, channel, cell ID, etc.    -   Location of the mobile telephone such as latitude and longitude.

Additional and/or different data may also be collected. Information ofthe wireless service, the service quality metrics, the radio conditionsand the location of the mobile telephone device may be communicated tothe database server 150 for storage along with information identifyingthe mobile telephone device 102 (e.g., the telephone number of themobile telephone device, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI);model and serial numbers) and data of the model and manufacturer of thedevice 102, the mobile service applications used to perform the test(e.g., the browser, email client, etc.), and other such information.

The test server 125 also may execute program code to determine servicequality metrics for communications received from the mobile telephonedevice 102, which may be stored along with the time and informationidentifying the device in the database server 150.

While the example test described above includes a telephone call,receiving (and displaying) video content, bi-directional emailcommunication, and retrieving web pages, other tests may include othercombinations of mobile service tasks that are performed concurrently.The sequence of mobile services may vary from test script to test scriptas well. For example, a test script may execute to cause the mobiledevice to call the server, start sending emails, download a file, endthe call, wait ten seconds, make another call, stop downloading thefile, stop sending emails, and stop the second call. Thus, a single testmay include a series of mobile service tasks, with different servicesbeing performed concurrently with different other services at differenttimes.

The same mobile telephone device may be tested at various locationswithin a given mobile telephone network. Similarly, different mobiletelephone devices and different device configurations for a given mobiletelephone may be tested to compare how well different devices and deviceconfigurations perform. Further, testing may be performed for differentmobile telephone devices in different mobile telephone networks todetermine and compare how well the mobile telephone devices performamong the different networks.

To access the test results a user may login to a database server 150 viathe Internet 114. In an example embodiment, tests results from multipletests may be grouped logically as projects. One or more users may beauthorized to access the results. In addition to storing test resultsand allowing users to log in to access test results, the database server150 also may perform post-processing operations to extract significantmetrics, and to organize and report results. Results may be transmittedto the mobile telephone device 102 or other destination for viewing.

Various statistics may be derived from the various test results. Reportsmay aggregate statistics, for example, by the specific test, by thespecific mobile telephone device 102, for a group of mobile telephonedevices 12, for all mobile telephone devices 102 associated with a givenproject, etc. Mobile telephone devices 102 may be grouped, for example,by make, model, form factor, antenna type, network, band, radiotechnology, operating system, and/or chip set to allow comparisons.

As is evident from FIG. 2, the term “concurrently” is intended to meanthat the service tasks exist during an overlapping time period and doesnot necessarily mean that the service tasks begin or stop at the sametime. As an example, as shown in FIG. 2, all of the service tasks areperformed concurrently between times T4 and T5. While the invention hasbeen described in the context of testing the performance of a mobiletelephone device, other (mobile) communication devices may be similarlytested such as tablet computers, notebook computers, portable computers,automobile integrated communication systems and the like. While in theabove described embodiments the mobile device is communicating only withthe test server, in other embodiments so communications (e.g., voicecommunications, video streaming) may be with the test server 125 andother communications (e.g., email, retrieving web pages, etc.) with oneor more other remote computers.

As will be evident from the descriptions herein, one embodiment of thepresent invention may comprise a method of testing a mobile deviceconfigured to communicate over a mobile telephone network, comprisingwith the mobile device: wirelessly receiving a test script; executing atest application which executes the received test script; whereinexecution of the test script by the test application causes two or moreof the following tasks to execute concurrently: download a file; place atelephone call via the mobile telephone network; and retrieving webpages via the wireless network. The method may further comprisedetermining one or more quality of service metrics for each executedtask; determining a plurality of radio metrics of the mobile device atexecution of at least one of the tasks; determining data of a locationof the mobile device at execution of at least one of the tasks; andtransmitting data of the location of the mobile device, data of theradio metrics of the mobile device, and information of the quality ofservice metrics for each executed task to a computer system. Inaddition, the method may further comprise with the mobile devicetransmitting a request to receive data to a computer system and with thecomputer system, in response to receiving the request retrieving testdata from memory; and transmitting the test data to the mobile device.In some embodiments, the method may further comprise with the mobiledevice: wirelessly receiving a message that comprises a test request;and in response to wirelessly receiving the message, performing saidexecuting the test application. The method may further comprise with adispatch server: receiving a service request from the mobile device;wherein the service request comprises a request to communicate data tothe mobile device; communicating information of the service request to atest server; and (with the test server): receiving the information ofthe service request; and communicating the data to the mobile device.

The method may further comprise with a computer system transmitting thefile to the mobile device; establishing a telephone call with the mobiledevice via the mobile telephone network; and wherein transmitting thefile is performed while the telephone call is established and whereinthe file is transmitted to the mobile device via a communication paththat does not include the mobile telephone network. The method mayfurther comprise with the computer system communicating the web pages tothe mobile device; and wherein said communicating the web pages isperformed concurrently with said transmitting the file and while thetelephone call is established.

In yet another embodiment, a system for testing a mobile deviceconfigured to communicate over a wireless communication network,comprises a dispatch server storing a plurality of test scripts andconfigured to transmit test scripts to the mobile device; a test serverconfigured to receive test scripts from said dispatch server and toexecute received test scripts; the test server having access to testdata for communication to the mobile device; wherein the tests scriptsreceived by said test server are executable to cause said test server toconcurrently communicate with the mobile device via multiple logicalcommunication channels to test multiple mobile services of the mobiledevice concurrently; and a database configured to store: quality ofservice data associated with each mobile service of the mobile devicetested; data of radio metrics of the mobile device; data of a locationof the mobile device; and information identifying the mobile device. Themobile device may include non-transitory memory, the system may furthercomprise a test application stored in the memory of the mobile deviceand executable to cause the mobile device to: receive a test script fromsaid dispatch server; execute the received test script to cause themobile device to communicate via multiple wireless logical communicationchannels concurrently to perform multiple mobile services concurrently;determine a quality of service of each mobile service; determine data ofa plurality of radio metrics of the mobile device; determine data of alocation of the mobile device; and transmit data of the location of themobile device, data of the radio metrics of the mobile device, andinformation of the quality of service of each mobile service to saiddatabase. The system may further comprise a test application stored inthe memory of the mobile device and executable to cause the mobiledevice to receive at the mobile device program code for communicatingwith the test server to perform a first test; store the program code inmemory of the mobile device; and execute the program code upon receiptof a test request and wherein receipt of the test request comprisesreceipt of a predetermined wireless message. A first logicalcommunication channel may be configured to test a first mobile servicethat comprises voice communications; and a second logical communicationchannel may be configured to test a second mobile service that comprisesaccessing web content and wherein the first logical communicationchannel includes a portion of a mobile telephone network and the secondlogical communication channel does not include a portion of any mobiletelephone network.

In yet another embodiment, a method of testing a mobile deviceconfigured to communicate over a mobile telephone network, comprisesestablishing a first logical communication channel via the mobiletelephone network; communicating first information over the firstlogical communication channel; establishing a second logicalcommunication channel over a communication network; concurrently withsaid communicating first information, communicating second informationover the second logical communication channel; determining a pluralityof service quality metrics for the first information communicated overthe first logical communication channel; determining a plurality ofservice quality metrics for the second information communicated over thesecond logical communication channel; determining a location of themobile device for communication of the first or second information; anddetermining information of the communication network over which thesecond information is communicated. The method may further comprisedetermining a plurality of radio conditions for communication of thefirst or second information as well as receiving at the mobile deviceprogram code for performing a first communication test; storing theprogram code in memory of the mobile device; and executing the programcode upon receipt of a test request. The method may further comprisewirelessly receiving a message that comprises the test request. Themethod may further comprise receiving a SMS message that comprises atest request; and initiating the test in response to receiving the SMSmessage.

The processes of determining a plurality of service quality metrics forthe first information, determining a plurality of service qualitymetrics for the second information, determining a location of the mobiledevice for communication of the first or second information; anddetermining information of the communication network may each performedby the mobile device. The method may further comprise concurrently withcommunicating the first information and communicating the secondinformation, communicating third information over a third second logicalcommunication channel.

It is to be understood that the foregoing illustrative embodiments havebeen provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way tobe construed as limiting of the invention. Words used herein are wordsof description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Inaddition, the advantages and objectives described herein may not berealized by each and every embodiment practicing the present invention.Further, although the invention has been described herein with referenceto particular structure, steps and/or embodiments, the invention is notintended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein. Rather, theinvention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods anduses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Those skilledin the art, having the benefit of the teachings of this specification,may affect numerous modifications thereto and changes may be madewithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of testing a mobile device configured tocommunicate over a mobile telephone network, comprising: with the mobiledevice wirelessly receiving a test script; executing a test applicationwhich executes the received test script; wherein execution of the testscript by the test application causes two or more of the following tasksto execute concurrently: download a file; place a telephone call via themobile telephone network; and retrieving web pages via the wirelessnetwork; determining one or more quality of service metrics for eachexecuted task; determining a plurality of radio metrics of the mobiledevice at execution of at least one of the tasks; determining data of alocation of the mobile device at execution of at least one of the tasks;and transmitting data of the location of the mobile device, data of theradio metrics of the mobile device, and information of the quality ofservice metrics for each executed task to a computer system.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: with the mobile devicetransmitting a request to receive data to a computer system; with thecomputer system, in response to receiving the request; retrieving testdata from memory; and transmitting the test data to the mobile device.3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising with the mobiledevice: wirelessly receiving a message that comprises a test request;and in response to wirelessly receiving the message, performing saidexecuting the test application.
 4. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: with a dispatch server: receiving a service requestfrom the mobile device; wherein the service request comprises a requestto communicate data to the mobile device; communicating information ofthe service request to a test server; with the test server: receivingthe information of the service request; and communicating the data tothe mobile device.
 5. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising with a computer system: transmitting the file to the mobiledevice; establishing a telephone call with the mobile device via themobile telephone network; and wherein said transmitting the file isperformed while the telephone call is established.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the file is transmitted to the mobiledevice via a communication path that does not include the mobiletelephone network.
 7. The method according to claim 5, furthercomprising with the computer system: communicating the web pages to themobile device; and wherein said communicating the web pages is performedconcurrently with said transmitting the file and while the telephonecall is established.
 8. A system for testing a mobile device configuredto communicate over a wireless communication network, comprising: adispatch server storing a plurality of test scripts and configured totransmit test scripts to the mobile device; a test server configured toreceive test scripts from said dispatch server and to execute receivedtest scripts; said test server having access to test data forcommunication to the mobile device; wherein the tests scripts receivedby said test server are executable to cause said test server toconcurrently communicate with the mobile device via multiple logicalcommunication channels to test multiple mobile services of the mobiledevice concurrently; and a database configured to store: quality ofservice data associated with each mobile service of the mobile devicetested; data of radio metrics of the mobile device; data of a locationof the mobile device; and information identifying the mobile device. 9.The system according to claim 8, wherein the mobile device includesnon-transitory memory, the system further comprising a test applicationstored in the memory of the mobile device and executable to cause themobile device to: receive a test script from said dispatch server;execute the received test script to cause the mobile device tocommunicate via multiple wireless logical communication channelsconcurrently to perform multiple mobile services concurrently; determinea quality of service of each mobile service; determine data of aplurality of radio metrics of the mobile device; and determine data of alocation of the mobile device; and transmit data of the location of themobile device, data of the radio metrics of the mobile device, andinformation of the quality of service of each mobile service to saiddatabase.
 10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the mobile deviceincludes non-transitory memory, the system further comprising a testapplication stored in the memory of the mobile device and executable tocause the mobile device to: receive at the mobile device program codefor communicating with the test server to perform a first test; storethe program code in memory of the mobile device; and execute the programcode upon receipt of a test request.
 11. The system according to claim10, wherein receipt of the test request comprises receipt of apredetermined wireless message.
 12. The system according to claim 8,wherein: a first logical communication channel is configured to test afirst mobile service that comprises voice communications; and a secondlogical communication channel is configured to test a second mobileservice that comprises accessing web content.
 13. The method accordingto claim 12, wherein the first logical communication channel includes aportion of a mobile telephone network and the second logicalcommunication channel does not include a portion of any mobile telephonenetwork.
 14. A method of testing a mobile device configured tocommunicate over a mobile telephone network, comprising: establishing afirst logical communication channel via the mobile telephone network;communicating first information over the first logical communicationchannel; establishing a second logical communication channel over acommunication network; concurrently with said communicating firstinformation, communicating second information over the second logicalcommunication channel; determining a plurality of service qualitymetrics for the first information communicated over the first logicalcommunication channel; determining a plurality of service qualitymetrics for the second information communicated over the second logicalcommunication channel; determining a location of the mobile device forcommunication of the first or second information; and determininginformation of the communication network over which the secondinformation is communicated.
 15. The method according to claim 14,further comprising determining a plurality of radio conditions forcommunication of the first or second information.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 14, further comprising: receiving at the mobiledevice program code for performing a first communication test; storingthe program code in memory of the mobile device; and executing theprogram code upon receipt of a test request.
 17. The method according toclaim 16, further comprising wirelessly receiving a message thatcomprises the test request.
 18. The method according to claim 14,further comprising: receiving a SMS message that comprises a testrequest; and initiating the test in response to receiving the SMSmessage.
 19. The method according to claim 14, wherein said determininga plurality of service quality metrics for the first information, saiddetermining a plurality of service quality metrics for the secondinformation, said determining a location of the mobile device forcommunication of the first or second information; and determininginformation of the communication network is each performed by the mobiledevice.
 20. The method according to claim 14, further comprisingconcurrently with said communicating first information and communicatingsecond information, communicating third information over a third secondlogical communication channel.